


Starling

by floorcoaster



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Ambitious Hermione Granger, Animagus Draco Malfoy, F/M, First Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:21:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23659792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/floorcoaster/pseuds/floorcoaster
Summary: Someone's been helping Hermione with her work and she's not sure what to think.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 24
Kudos: 104
Collections: DFW Birthday GOGO Fest 2020





	Starling

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheImperfectionista](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheImperfectionista/gifts).



STARLING

It had started with a single note. 

A folded slip of parchment, partially tucked under her doormat. There’d been a knock on the door but nobody there when she’d answered, and she’d only noticed the slip of paper as she’d turned to go back inside. 

On it were written just three words: _Look into McClotchski_.

Hermione had a very fulfilling job in the Department of the Regulation and Care of Magical Creatures, in a very specific niche of the department where she worked side-by-side with someone from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to investigate and prosecute criminal cases involving magical creatures. She got the best of two of her favorite worlds: solving mysteries and fighting for those with fewer advantages in the world. 

That note had led her and her partner, Draco Malfoy, to uncover a ring of Niffler smuggling through the United Kingdom and Ireland. 

She didn’t always work with Draco, only when both of their agencies were required on a case. 

After that first note had led to a very successful and high-profile take-down, Hermione wanted to know who had sent it. She sent the paper to their lab for analysis, but nothing had turned up: nothing about the paper, the ink, or the handwriting. 

****

**ooo**

Three weeks later, it had happened again. Another note, left under her doormat, led to another successful capture, this time of a seedy underground lab that was illegally raising erumpets in cages in order to extract the liquid from their horns to sell on the black market.

One month after that, a third note led to the capture of someone who’d been collecting Billywigs to collect the venom and use it to perform a high-stakes heist from a very tall building in New York City. 

And on and on. 

For nine months now, Hermione had been closing cases at an unprecedented rate. Usually Draco was her partner for them, but not always. She was always given credit for everything, which she took in stride because she didn’t know who else to give it to. 

The mystery of the white paper haunted her, however, and she was determined to get answers. 

****

**ooo**

Hermione was sitting at her desk, her face in her hands as she read over a report she was submitting in twenty minutes that would detail measures she believed would help curtail illegal creature activity across the United Kingdom.

A light thud beside her head made her jump, and she sat up, knocking over a takeaway cup of hot tea that had just been placed on her desk—the cause of the thud. 

“Careful there.” Without missing a beat, Draco shifted the drink carrier into his left hand, whipped out his wand, and caught the cup in a Levitation Spell before it could hit the ground or even spill a drop. With expert ease, he set the cup back on her desk. “Rough morning?” he asked with a smirk.

“Meeting soon,” was her only reply. She drank greedily from the cup, not noting the fact that he’d known how she liked her tea. He’d been preparing it perfectly for her for months, so this was nothing new. “Thanks.”

He sat down at his desk which abutted hers and leaned back, his casual elegance a momentary distraction. 

She peered at him thoughtfully for a moment, then sat up and put the report inside a folder. “Draco? What would you do if someone was giving you tips on solving cases but you had no idea who it was or why they were doing it? Hypothetically speaking.”

He quirked an eyebrow at her. “Hypothetically?”

Hermione shrugged, needlessly fussing with papers on her desk. “Yes.”

Draco was quiet for a long time, and when she glanced at him, his brow was deeply furrowed, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. After a few minutes, he sighed heavily. “In theory, is your insatiable curiosity preventing you from fully enjoying the success you’ve had because of it?”

She bit her lip and nodded. “Correct. In theory.”

Again, he was quiet a long while. “I thought you wanted to track down these villains. To bring them to justice. You’ve told me countless times that you long to move from this role to one where you can actually make policy, to bring about real change that positively impacts real lives. And what better way to do that than with a string of high-profile conquests to your name?”

“Yes, that’s all true, however I can’t help but feel as though I’m not really earning this. Someone else, somehow, is helping me. None of my methods to detect this individual have produced any results, but I haven’t really tried very hard.” She pointed to the folder containing the report. “I want to affect change in the wizarding world, Draco. But not if there’s someone out there feeding me information in an attempt to steer me in one direction in order to hide what’s going on somewhere else.” 

His eyes widened in shock. “What?”

“Who would stand to benefit from these lowlifes being sent to prison? Someone else wanting to clear the way, take out the competition.” She shook her head in agitation. “I can’t shake the feeling that I’m being used for some nefarious scheme, but at the same time, I can’t _not_ act on the tips I’ve received. I just keep feeling that the other shoe is going to drop any moment.”

His gaze was penetrating as he studied her face, and she felt he was trying to see behind the words she’d spoken. Finally, he let out a long breath. “You should do what you think is best, Hermione. You are a wonderful person. You have excellent instincts. Whatever you decide will be the right thing to do. Theoretically.”

She gave him a small smile. “Was that a compliment?”

He rolled his eyes and stood. “You already know I think you’re amazing. Now come on, we’ve got a meeting to get to.”

Hermione grinned and gathered her things. “I happen to think you’re pretty wonderful as well.”

Together they walked toward the conference room, and Draco held the door open for her. “After you, world changer.”

She smacked him playfully yet discreetly with the folder as she passed him to take her seat near the head of the table.

****

**ooo**

Hermione did what any sensible person in her position would do: she stalked the peephole of her front door for a week, hoping to catch sight of whoever was leaving the notes. When nothing happened that week, she opted to skip the crick in her neck and went for something a bit more practical. She set up a home security camera.

After two weeks, she finally got another note. She barely glanced at it before rushing inside to review the video footage. To her great surprise and consternation, the recording did not show a person dropping off the note. Instead, a Starling flew down to her doormat, shoved a note under its corner, and flew away. 

She watched the video again, amazed at what she was seeing. Then she looked at the note, unsurprised to see a single name written in the same, now-familiar handwriting of all the notes. Obviously, whoever was leaving the notes was magical, but that wasn’t new information. She quickly developed two theories. Either it was a trained Starling or the bird was someone’s Animagus form. The latter seemed far more likely, so the following day, on her lunch break, Hermione went to the Ministry’s Animagus Registry Office. The records were public, so it was easy to look up whether anyone in England had registered as a Starling. 

She found nothing.

Not only was her secret assistant delivering information that had to be difficult, if not illegal, to obtain, he or she was also an unregistered Animagus. Dread settled into the pit of her stomach. 

There was really only one thing left to do. She would have to capture the beautiful bird. 

****

**ooo**

Five weeks later, it finally happened. She’d set up a ward that would allow birds in but not out. It also prevented whoever it was from returning to human form. She was awakened in the middle of the night by a clamor and after following the noise, discovered the Starling flapping frantically in an attempt to break through her ward. The pile of sticks she’d left by the door were now scattered, and the food and water bowls she’d left out overturned.

Still in her pajamas, Hermione opened the door and stepped out. The bird turned around and she would have sworn it looked her up and down. Knowing it was a human made her wish she’d changed out of her shorts and put on a bra. Knowing the bird wasn’t going anywhere, she backed into her house, quickly threw on clothes for the day, and retrieved the small cage she’d procured for this eventuality.

Thirty minutes later, she was hurrying through the mostly empty Ministry with a bird cage in one hand, headed for the DMLE where she could use an interrogation room to confront whoever it was.

She placed the cage on top of the table and sat down to look into its eyes. To her surprise, they looked almost silver. Then she spoke to it. 

“My partner should be here any minute. I sent him a message to come as soon as he could.”

The bird cocked its head to the side. 

“In the meantime, I’ve brought a book.” She leaned back in the chair, propped her feet on the table, and opened to the page she was on. She kept yawning and struggling to keep her eyes open but did her best to push through. 

When her head dipped some time later, a glance at the clock informed her that almost an hour had passed since she’d opened it. She gasped. “Where could he be? Maybe he’s sleeping? It is two in the morning.”

Hermione began pacing the room, rubbing her hands together for warmth. “He always comes when I need him, though. He’s an excellent partner, you know,” she said, addressing the bird. “Very good at what he does.” She walked the length of the interrogation room twice. Maybe he wasn’t home; maybe he’d gone on a date and stayed with the woman. The thought disquieted her more than she thought was fair. “I suppose I’ll just have to call in someone else.” She stalked toward the bird, eyes narrowed. “I think I’ll see if my friend Harry is available.”

The bird began flapping its wings and squawking loudly. 

Hermione grinned triumphantly. “Oh, so you know of my friend Harry, do you? Hm. Well, I can’t do this alone, of course. It’s against protocol to interrogate someone on your own…” She trailed off, eyeing the bird thoughtfully. “Of course, no one knows we’re here. This isn’t exactly by the book. You’re not even necessarily in trouble.” After deliberating a moment more, she nodded decisively. “Right. Here’s how this is going to go. I’m going to open the door of the cage and you’re going to come out and then transform back to your human form. You don’t have a wand; I do. Don’t make me use it.”

The bird nodded. Hermione opened the cage door and stepped back, her wand trained on the bird. Slowly the bird emerged, hopped off the table, and transformed.

Hermione’s jaw dropped, along with her wand. “Draco??”

He smiled sheepishly and ran his hands through his hair a few times. “Was not expecting that.”

“ _You_ weren’t? What about me! My partner is—” She lowered her voice to a harsh whisper. “An Unregistered Animagus? What were you thinking, with your history? They’d throw you in Azkaban and toss the key!” She was completely unable to process everything this meant and focused instead on something easy to scold him for.

“I’m still within the window for registering,” he said, holding up his hands as though to ward off the blows of her heightened emotional state. 

“How is it possible that it’s been _you_ leaving me notes? And why? Why not just, oh, I don’t know, tell me over a tea break when we’re in the same room?” Then her eyes narrowed. “How did you know all that stuff, anyway?”

Draco sighed. “Relax, Hermione. I couldn’t tell you in person because I didn’t learn anything as part of my job, but rather through other… shall we say… unorthodox methods.”

She gave him a very hard look and crossed her arms in a huff. “Illegal?”

He shrugged. 

“Why, Draco?” Her tone was insistent. 

“Like you, I wanted these criminals locked up. I suppose I got impatient, and I figured if I funneled you the information, you’d get the credit, which would help you achieve your ultimate goals, and the world would be a better place. And it was quicker and easier than going through the proper channels.”

Hermione bit her lip. “You expect me to believe that you did all of this solely to advance my career? What’s in it for you?”

She saw a flash of disappointment in his expression before it went blank. “You mean besides getting to work with you every day for weeks at a time? Nothing, really.”

“Very funny,” she said, rolling her eyes. 

Draco sighed heavily. “It’s not a joke.”

Then she gaped at him. “What do you mean?”

They’d been standing a few feet apart for most of their conversation, but now he stepped closer. It felt different than every other time before. There was intent, determination in his eyes. Her stomach instantly swooped in that delightful, anticipatory way. Yes, the tension between them could slice through steel, but she hadn’t thought he felt it. Yes, she’d felt an instant attraction to him from the first time they’d worked together, but she never dreamed of doing anything about it. 

The look he was giving her was intense, but she stood her ground as he continued to approach her. Finally, when he was well and fully in her space, he lifted his hand but hesitated, a wrinkle of doubt creasing his forehead. Then he gently touched her cheek, his thumb brushing ever so lightly against her lips. She inhaled a shaky breath, her insides a constant whooshing as she waited to see what he would do.

He rested his hand more firmly at her jaw, keeping his eyes locked on hers. Then he glanced at her lips and lowered his head a few inches, pausing to give her a questioning look. She blinked and parted her lips, her heart pounding. 

His eyes fluttered shut and he closed the scant distance, his lips barely ghosting against hers with the most delicious pressure as he began to kiss her softly, delicately, excruciatingly. It was over far too quickly when he pulled back, his eyes dark.

“I did it for your career. I did it for the wizarding world. But mostly, I did it for you.”

****

**ooo**

THE END

  
  



End file.
